We drove further west along the coast to Cabourg, hoping to get into a campsite there. However the whole area was very busy, and the site we had in mind was full.
On studying the weather forecast for the next few days, we realised that we weren't going to be able to avoid the heatwave, as the temperature on the north coast was going to be 40+ degrees in any case. So we decided we had nothing to lose by resurrecting our original plans and heading south to the Atlantic coast, in the general direction of La Rochelle.
We headed for a free village aire in Availles-sur-Seiche, about another two and half hours drive south west.
It's very lovely here, with benches and picnic tables in the woods by a children's play area. It was so hot all we could do was sit on a bench in the shade for a couple of hours.
Later on we managed to park the campervan behind a weeping willow tree, and had a barbecue of chicken skewers with peppers and mushrooms.
